I'm considering moving to Northampton; yay or nay?

[Shirley1006]

Hi,
With house prices soaring in London, my husband and I are considering making a move to Northampton. I have a lovely 22 month year old who will need a good environment to grow up in as well as access to a good school, and activities.

So far I've been looking in the Upton and Duston area, but I have no idea if these are good areas or not.

Any advice from those who have made the move or live in Northampton, any history to share, or anyone with current information about Northampton i.e. good areas, areas to avoid, that would help a family considering a move would be most welcome!

[Turt]

Come to Towcester, it's brilliant here. Close to Northampton but I find better value for money, more beautiful scenery and you aren't far from main roads to MK, London etc.

[mapleleafshiba]

Born and raised here. Avoid Northampton. The villages in Northamptonshire however, are beautiful. Towcester also lovely as PP said

[WellLetsSayHesSquare]

Born and raised here too. The town centre is not good so for shopping etc we tend to go rushden lakes or milton Keynes. Upton and duston are nice enough. Avoid the eastern district. Maybe try looking at outlying villages. Moulton is nice. Secondary education is hit and miss. The best schools at the minute are the boys and girls school which are both outstanding but others all all either mediocre or struggling. There are quite a few outstanding primary schools but pupil numbers here are rising and most schools fill to their limit.

[Ilovefluffysheep]

As others have said, villages are lovely, Northampton itself isn't really. Obviously there are some areas nicer than others, but presumably most places are like that.

[Shirley1006]

Thank you I really appreciate your advice. Any more contributions are welcome.

[LolaDabestest]

Shithole

[cujo]

I heard there’s a lot of stabbings in Upton. I have friends with kids that have moved away from there. Why Northampton in particular?

[cactusthief]

I left Northampton years ago, every visit back since I have felt nothing but relief that I left.

[LizzieBananas]

Currently live near Northampton/MK. Town centre itself is a bit grotty. Outlying villages are very nice and the schools are second to none.

People do commute into London from Northampton/Bedford and certainly from MK. The villages between Northampton and MK (Towcester, Newport Pagnell etc) would be a good place to start. Would be prepared to share more over PM...

[ihatethecold]

The one thing that strikes me about Northamptonshire is that its always on the local news (look east) about the council, SS, schools, housing having zero money or its been spent very badly so services are now failing due to a lack of funding.

[mrsed1987]

I live in Northampton, there are some nicer estates and crap ones. Same as everywhere imo. Town centre is awful

[Robs20]

I grew up there and parents/lots of friends still live there. I would avoid upton but like Duston village. Parents like very close to both areas and aunty lives in Upton.
Happy to answer any specific questions.

[stucknoue]

If you need to commute check the train costs and travel times, they vary by company a lot over the same distance

[Shirley1006]

@cujo Northampton seems to be a place where you can buy a nice house. We’re looking for detached, 3/4 bedroom, house. And it’s not too far from London, which is where our a lot of our or family and friends are based. We also work in London too.

[ChongADong]

I'm in a village in South Northants, not far at all from Upton or Duston. I find Duston quite soulless, Upton is nice enough but very modern and clinical. The villages are beautiful, I grew up in Boughton and agree with PP about Moulton etc, the villages are lovely here.
No go areas:
Bellinge
Thorplands
Lumbertubs
Boothville
Lings
Blackthorn
Kings Heath shudder
Any where too near the town centre - off the Barrack Road or Wellingborough road.

Consider:
Harpole
Blisworth
Bugbrooke
Sywell
Scaldwell (not quite as easy to commute from this end though)
Milton Malsor
Kingsthorpe village
Earls Barton (again, more Wellingborough side so not as easy to commute)

There haven't been any stabbings in Upton, there was a fatal shooting there a year ago (I'm a police officer) which really shook the community as it was such a shock in an otherwise quiet and homely neighborhood. There is gang culture and some recent stabbings in the Abington and Newnham Road areas, but overall crime rate in the villages is relatively low.

[Cuddlysnowleopard]

I grew up in Duston. It was fine, but I wouldn't live there now. Still a good community, but too small town in it's mentality for me. You will notice the difference compared to London.

Primary schools are fine, Duston School not so good.

Town centre is dying, nothing like it used to be. Council is bankrupt.

The villages are pretty, and duston is walking distance to the Firs and Harlestone, but there is an awful lot of new development, and I don't think that the infrastructure has caught up.

[FrothyB]

Born and raised there, grew up in Far Cotton, then Obelisk Rise, then Blackthorn. Was a different town then though, even 20 years ago. I always say to people that Northampton is a shithole, but it's my shithole.

It wasn't awful growing up here, but then I didn't know anything different. The town centre is largely pound shops, betting shops and Eastern European food shops now. Its dying off due to the out of town shopping areas, which is a shame.

When your children are old enough to go out, theres normally 4 full police Van's parked up in preparation around All Saints Church if that gives you any indication of what the night life is like there.

It sounds awfully snobby to rule out certain areas, but I'd guess coming up from London you've probably got a decent budget, so West Hunsbury and Collingtree were always considered good areas. Upton, I like the houses, nearly bought a flat there myself, but it's opposite the football ground, so every other Saturday expect the area to get pretty crowded and people parking anywhere they can to avoid paying at the official car parks, especially as one of those has now, or soon will be closed.

I work in Milton Keynes, but I really don't like it there in general, although I just don't get on with large towns in general anymore.

Wellingborough has a new development being built with almost direct access to the Train Station if you're thinking of commuting called Stanton Cross. However, Wellingborough as a town is often regarded as worse than Northampton itself.

I haven't lived there, but Market Harborough always looks like a nice place driving through it, with a railway running to Kings Cross, the same line as Kettering and Wellingborough.

I moved out to a nice village in East Northants, because I couldn't afford anywhere I would like to live in the town itself, or the villages around the town. I go to the centre very rarely now because it's always such a shame to do so, to see what the town I grew up in is becoming.

[nikkylou]

Can't comment on schools.

Northampton itself isn't great, the town centre is a bit miserable and when we were house hunting, found there was cheaper outside Northampton itself. I can't say theres any particular uniqueness about Northampton that lends itself to a higher price, when more intimate and quieter villages were cheaper.

I live in a village near Kettering. The road network means its reasonably well connected and I have a wide variety of options direction wise for work if I need.

Rugby isn't that far, and if it wasn't for work when we bought our house, would probably have looked there. It's just over in Warwickshire, has a train station, I think with a fast train to London. The town centre (like most tbh) is a bit dire but the new elliots field is lovely, Coventry is not far, and Birmingham is about 45 mins by train to new street.

[pinkkoala]

I live in Northampton, hunsbury area, its a nice area, 5 mins to m1 j15, has local shops, big tesco extra, leisure centre, schools, my dd currently in year 10 at an outstanding school, wootton park, age range 4 to 18.
And also far enough out of town, its just as quick to whip on m1 and go one junction to mk, which is where we shop, eat out or drink.
Northampton town is rubbish, and the eastern areas are not great.

[GrumpyHoonMain]

Milton Keynes and it’s surrounding villages have a better commute into London (30mins). There’s also much more in terms of facilities than the areas you have chosen.

[Majorcollywobble]

Take a look at Creaton Village . The stuff of postcards.

[ConFusion360]

As others have said, villages are lovely, Northampton itself isn't really.

I'd second (or third) this. The county itself is beautiful. Northampton not so much.

[NewName54321]

If you want a town/city rather than a village, and are not drawn specifically to Northampton for family or work, then Peterborough would also meet your criteria.

[ElizabethQueeniofEngland3rd]

Op, i live in Northants, having moved from London 9 yrs ago.

It is an absolute toilet of a place. I live in one of the pretty honey stoned villages others have described. Basically, nothing has moved on here since 1066. If you move here from London you are viewed with suspicion and distain. The fact that you have been priced out of London and left all yr family and friends behind bears no relevance up here. You have come waving ypur cockney wad around and pricing alll the low wage earning natives out of their village properties , so you will he universally hated what ever you do, Your kids will be frustrated with the shite wifi and the no bus service as the county is bankrupt, so
they cant get anywhere.

You will spend yrs entertaining people, trying to make friends but they don't reciprocate and could not give a monkeys toss as they have lived here all their lives and have all the family & friends they need dating back to 1066 . So you will spend years alone,raising kids
and waiting for someone to knock on the door , anyone, just anyone.. to pass the innate boredom that is living here...

You will become extremely depressed and lonely, fed up of always initiating, You will become fed up of their dislike of Londeers, their crap impressions of Londoners and their general resentment of all things London,

Their poxy fuc£ing factory fortnight will always remind you that you ain't from around here. You do not belong. You will be counting the days until your unhappy kids ( who wished they had stayed in London
) sit their GCSE's and you all leave and return to London.

Moral : There is no place like home ( rubs heels of ruby slippers) .

[Cuddlysnowleopard]

Elizabeth trying to work out which village you are in which still has factory fortnight

You've made the mistake of assuming that you will be accepted in the "County". If you'd moved to Town, you'd be fine.

(I'm County bred, although born and raised in Town. I am still accepted in the village where my relatives were from, as I have I hundreds of years worth of relatives buried in the churchyard, and can trace my family line literally back to 1066 when my great great great...... Grandfather came over with William).